Moments Worth Mentioning

2009 has been a year that I will remember as the year that I fell in love.  Maybe not in the romantic, your my soul mate kind of love… but definitely in the, I love my life kind of way.

As the clock struck midnight on December 31, 2008 I was with a group of people out in Atlanta.  Some were old friends, most were people I had met only moments before….  All of them would open up countless doors for an amazing year of love!  That group brought me to Atlanta.  That group brought me hundreds of new friends.  That group brought me to Buckhead Church.  It’s not coincidental to me that I started the new year with these people.

As January turned into February and February into March I met more people.  In April I signed a lease on an apartment in the city and fell in love with my new address.  With that new address, I was able to go out on a moments notice.  I had friends meeting on week nights for television shows, dinners on patios and entire weekends booked for this outing or that event.  I fell in love with always having something to do.

The spring and summer of 2009 was nothing short of a never-ending vacation.  I was discovering the city of Atlanta in a circle of friends that kept growing.  We had gatherings on boats and beaches.  We played volleyball.  We rode bikes.  We went to baseball games. We laid in hammocks.  We had cookouts.  I absolutely fell in love with the city and the people in it.

This past Fall I found an amazing group of girls and we now have weekly bible studies.  I also ventured into the world of church leadership and various ministry opportunities. I transferred my church membership.  I volunteered countless hours.  I found a peace in an area of my life that I have spent so much time trying to forget.  I fell in love with my church.

As winter crept up, I was taking a new position at work.  I was transferring offices.  I was being challenged and being recognized for the dedication and hard work.  I fell in love with the idea of having a career.

It’s so hard to not ramble on and on about the hundreds of things that I have been apart of in the last 12 months.  I’m not saying that the last year hasn’t had its moments of heart break and frustration…. but in the grand scheme of things, it has been a year filled to capacity with blessings and adventures.  Never have I had so many amazing people in my life.  Never have I felt to content.  Never have I ever been so in love!

Thank you to those of you who read this and smile because you know that you were apart of this…..  I love all of you!!

Its been a whirl wind kind of week!  I now have a mere 5 days left at my current office.  As of November 23rd, I will be working in the big city and will no longer have the similar, friendly faces around me.  Its been a difficult decision to walk away from such an amazing working environment to say the least. 

To complicate the transition, the (lack of) communication between my management concerning my move has left lots of people feeling out of the loop.  I can easily understand the frustration as some very important people within this company are finding about the transition through hear-say.  These people have invested in our program and have made a personal investment in me these last 8+ months.  They deserved to know that I was leaving.  They deserved some communication.

It continues to amaze me how much communication plays a vital role in every relationship we have.  Here, it shows up in the work place, but its often the reason for personal relationship failure.  I will be the first to admit that I have had to learn how to be a better communicator.  But at least I’m aware of my shortcomings!  Some go through their entire lives without grasping the concept.   So many problems have the potential to be completely prevented had we made the effort to talk, to email, to scream, to call… to communicate. 

 Finially, this morning, after many hurt feelings, strong worded phone calls, and heated conversations an official email was sent out to bring everyone up to speed on my move.  Amazingly, everyone is now OK with the change.  Imagine the frustration that would have been avoided had that same email gone out a few weeks ago. 

Instead of now being the center of controversy, the mood has shifted to sadness.  My coworkers and I are now having to say goodbye and make the promises to see each other again. 

Honestly, I don’t know which is worse.

Lately I have been losing things.  There have been keys, shoes, a favorite shirt and most recently my bible and journal.  For anyone that knows me, you know that this is not my style.  I keep an immaculate apartment, everything I own is put away, I’m uber organized…. I definitely don’t lose things!

I can only blame my new ability to lose stuff on my hectic life.  I run from one activity to the next leaving myself tired and my mind doing everything it can to keep up.  The bi-product of this: lost stuff.  I also stuggle to remember to make a phone call or to pick up something from the grocery store.  I am learning to rely on a calender and lists…. something that I used to laugh at.

Im embarrassed by my new quality of forgetfulness.  I am upset at myself for not having a little more control over this thing called life.  So, in the mean time.  If you see me frantically searching, have me calling you to ask if you have seen my lost stuff or see me walk away from my belongings please forgive me.   I’m a work in progress.  =)

Once again a new year is upon us. It’s amazing to me all that can transpire in 12 months. I remember thinking that 2007 was a crazy year… If I had only known how insane 2008 would be!

What I have learned in 2008:

1) Largest lesson hands downs: Nothing comes with a guarantee…. including jobs.
2) I am 100% capable of replacing windshield wiper blades, installing mini-blinds and jump-starting a car.
3) I would much rather have a boy in my life to help me accomplish those things.
4) A glass of wine with a great friend is about as essential as the air we breath.
5) BlackBerrys sound come with mandatory attendance to BA (BlackBerrys Anonymous).
6) 30 degrees in Michigan and 30 degrees in Georgia feel completely different. The exact reason remains a mystery.
7) It is completely OK to reconsider what you want to do when you grow up… at any time in your life.
Sometimes you are given LOTS of (huge/gigantic/unfair) lemons. But in the long run the troubles only make the lemonade taste that much sweeter.
9) Myspace and Facebook are really not as essential as we all think.
10) Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans…

Heres to 2009!

It’s a done deal. The papers are signed. I am officially out of a job as of next Wednesday.

Right now I would describe myself as emotionless. I have conflicting feelings of frustration and relief. I want to be happy about going back to Georgia and yet I am a little sad to say goodbye to all that I have known for the last year and a half. I have reinvented myself up here in Michigan. Its hard to believe that the journey is coming to an end. An abrupt end.

In a fit of frustration I posted every piece of furniture that I own on Craigslist. I have rational reasons to sell my things. A) Um, hello… I’m unemployed. Money is good. B) Fewer things to move back across the country is also good. C) Most of this stuff has made the journey from my college apartment, home ownership, and 2 Michigan moves. And, most of it was hand-me-downs when I first got it. It has had a good life.

I have been screening phone calls and emails all day. I have already sold a few things, with pickups scheduled for tomorrow. This is me trying to take control of a situation that couldn’t be more OUT of my control.

In other (good, no GREAT) news:
I bank at Chase. (I love this bank by the way. I am bummed that Georgia doesn’t have them.) Anyways…. they have this program called Chase Picks Up the Tab. Basically, every month or so they randomly pick out a few debit card purchases from the millions of transactions and reimburse the lucky sole for their purchase. Well, I got a phone call today informing me that I was the chosen one! They told me that they would be crediting my account for the $53 that I had spent at Walmart a few weeks ago. YAY!!!

Please excuse my lack of posting. I seem to have temporarily found a new past time… reading. I’m not a book reading kind of girl, so this is sort of a big deal. I have found an author that I can not get enough of. More about that later.

So, yup, it has started. Sunday night and this morning brought snow. I would hardly say that any of it accumulated, but just the same… it is here. I heard that northern Michigan had up to 10 inches this morning. Michigan even made national news with their “Big Storm”. I’m sure that southern and central Michigan are not far behind… Let the misery begin.

My weekend was fun. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but fun. I was able to do some shopping (exchanging actually) and eventually found myself in a book store/Starbucks drinking hot chocolate amongst fellow readers and lap top toting college students. Very New Yorker-ish. I later had Chicago style pizza with my fellow Georgian transplant. I felt as though I had visited two of my favorite cities without actually leaving town. Perfect.

And heres to another four-day week. I could get used to this!

For the last two days I have been working the 6am shift at work. So, as I sit here in my sleep deprived haze I am anxiously awaiting the weekend. Honestly, I am just ready for this week to be over. Its been quite the roller coaster, and I am more than happy to see the end in site. I have spent the last few evenings unpacking my apartment. Its not really all that fun to re-move in. (For those of you with an inkling to pack and unpack for no particular reason.) But just the same, things are back to normal. At least on the surface.

I am catching a 5:45am flight tomorrow morning… nonstop to the ATL. It’s only been about a month since I was down there, but I am more than ready to set foot on some Georgia soil. It never gets old seeing the friendly faces as I ascend the escalators in the Atlanta airport. If you ever want to feel extra special, meet someone in an airport… The hugs are always extraordinary. I love going to the airport just for that reason. I love watching the reunions.

First stop on Saturday will be my college town! I will be making the drive up to Dahlonega for their annual fall festival… AKA Gold Rush. Its a reason in itself to live in Georgia. And being that I lived in that town for over four years, its always wonderful to go back. Can’t Wait.

Next stop, Julie’s wedding. She is my very best friend from high school. We lived in the same neighborhood, and were in the same circle of very close friends. So, so many memories. It’s been way to long since I have gotten to see those girls. I wouldn’t miss her special day for anything.

The last 72 hours have been… interesting. Let me explain.

I was at work on Saturday serving my happy golfers their beer when I got stung by (I assume) a bee and/or wasp and/or hornet. I am not allergic to bee stings so I continued on with my day. Life went on…

I woke up Sunday morning to find that the bee sting on my wrist has become a red “bump” that is now slowly creeping up my forearm. I was surprised by the reaction, but not overly concerned. I called my dad… the doctor. He, on the other hand, was slightly more uncomfortable with my symptoms. He insisted I have it looked at. Well, not many doctors or Urgent care centers are open at 9am on Sunday mornings. So off to the ER I go… (trip number one.)

I want to pause here and explain that I am NOT one who casually walks into an ER when I have a runny nose. Actually, come to think of it, I have NEVER walked into an ER. I don’t even have a family doctor. I don’t get sick. When I do… I call dad.

Continuing…

The ER treated me like I would have expected. They gave me some Benadryl and a prescription for some antibiotics and sent me on my way, snickering as I left I’m sure. I was in and out in less than an hour. I actually went on to work. My golfers needed their beer…

Sunday night I was miserable, and Monday morning I woke up to my entire left forearm red, ridiculously swollen, and quite painful. This was not good. No doctor dad needed, I knew I needed to see a doctor ASAP. I went into work early with the intention of letting the doctor at my plant take a look. She, of course, wasn’t there. I was on to plan B. I managed to find an urgent care doctor that could see me. He took one look at me and went a little crazy with the prescription pad. Five prescriptions, two injections, and a couple of samples later I was on my way back to work.

Monday evening rolls around and my arm continues to get worse. At this point I am getting scared and very frustrated. I have seen two doctors, paid for multiple prescriptions and still have a swollen arm that is getting worse by the hour. On the verge of tears, I call my dad. No explanation needed… He wants me in the ER immediately. So, I leave work early, and off to the ER I go… (trip number 2).

Needless to say, the doctors paid a little more attention to me this time around. In a matter of a few hours I was on a stretcher with IV antibiotics, and pain meds pumping through my arm. I was in the ER until approximately 11pm. At that time a nice doctor approached me to explain that I was going to be admitted into the hospital. My blood work had come back, and he was convinced I was fighting a Staph infection. Are you kidding me?!

At this point my cell phone is dead. I can’t make long distance phone calls, and I wouldn’t know the phone numbers if I could. Luckily I was able to conserve enough battery to send out a few text messages to spread the news and inform my family of what was going on. Ah, the wonders of modern technology.

Meanwhile, I spent the next 20ish hours in bed hooked up to multiple IV’s. I had slews of doctors and residents come in to ask me the same 20 questions over and over. At one point I swore they were taping an episode of Greys Anatomy. I was the patient laying helpless as 8 doctors circle around my bed to discuss my symptoms.

Long story… (somewhat) short, I am now back at home. After the best shower of my life, I am feeling so much better! My arm has returned to its normal size and color. I have antibiotics to take for the next 10 days and a followup appointment scheduled. I think I’m gonna make it.

So… a simple lesson about Staph infections:
Supposedly, we all have the staph bug on our skin all the time. We coexist just fine.. normally. My bee sting provided an entry point, and that’s all it took. The infection spread through my lymph ducts in my arm, and within 24 hours it had made its way from my wrist up to my elbow. It had to potential to be much more serious had I not gotten the appropriate antibiotics when I did.

Those Michigan killer bees will get ya every time…

I woke up this morning to temperatures in the low 40′s, only to reach the mid-60′s by this afternoon. The air feels a little different, and dare I say the trees are hinting of the change to come. I do believe that Fall is upon us.

Its not the Fall that I fret over. But with the Fall, comes…. the Winter.

In other news: As if I haven’t already flown home enough this year, I just booked a ticket home for the middle of October. One of my best friends from high school is getting hitched, and its a perfect excuse to reconnect with some long lost friends.

So, here we go again, another change in season, another trip home.
Heres to a beautiful Fall…

So here I am. A year older, a year wiser…. a year closer to catching some dreams.

To be so far from “home”, I felt very loved yesterday. My phone started buzzing at midnight and kept going all day long. I had emails, text messages, and phone calls that lasted until late last night. I had donuts, cupcakes, and birthday cards at every turn. The people that made my day so special were complete strangers a year ago. That in itself is a wonderful gift.